As you start gaining experience as a photographer and see your photographs become more and more professional, you’re likely to start consider breaking down your computer’s barriers and showing your art to the world. But what if they steal those wonderful ideas and photographs you’ve built so long?
The Internet represents an incredible opportunity for photographers because anyone in the world can see a photo of you a few seconds after you post it, you can sell a photo to a person thousands of miles away or build a virtual gallery for network tourists to visit. The internet is the medium and your imagination is the limit, but is it safe?
- There’s nothing better than a map to be able to navigate the sea of Internet possibilities without getting lost along the way (or getting in trouble).
- Posting and selling your photos should stop being a utopia and become a reality.
Despite the countless advantages and opportunities offered by the Internet to photographers like you, in order to make the most of it without surprises, you need to know both your rights when it comes to sharing your work and your obligations to the work of others.
Blogs, social media and online stores can be a great way to make yourself known in the world of photography, but do you know what your rights are when uploading your photos and what precautions should you take to do so?
Are the photographs out of what’s called?Copyright and intellectual property? And each country has its own legislation on it.
Copyright and intellectual property
In both Spain and other countries, laws are far behind the needs of citizens and photographers are no exception, in fact, the Spanish Intellectual Property Law, for example, was enacted in 1996 and remains in force today, despite sudden changes in the environment in which photographers share their work.
In any case, the forms are always maintained, so taking the time to read the law that protects your activity as a photographer and grants you rights as an author, is more than recommended.
Here are some of the intellectual property laws you can read
With a simple internet search you can access the text of the copyright law corresponding to your country, I recommend that you review it to get a general idea of your rights and obligations as an author and citizen.
Birth of your rights:
The moment the shutter is released means not only the birth of your photographs, but also the birth of your rights over them. Intellectual property and copyright guarantee the moral and economic rights of your works. But what do they mean?
Moral rights: are those that aim to protect you as an author as well as the works you do.
Decide how your works will be disclosed and remove them in case of disagreement (compensation to the interested party), demand that the authorship of your photos be recognized, that the integrity of your works be respected and avoid the total and partial plagiarism of the moral rights that protect you from third parties.
These types of rights do not prescribe, cannot be sold, sold or assigned and you cannot give them up, you will always be their author. The authorship of your photographs is unalterable, but what can be assigned is economic rights (of use). of these.
2. Patrimonial rights: as the author of your photographs, you are the owner of the economic rights to use them, unless you decide to assign them to third parties so that they can use them.
Unlike moral rights, these can be transferred, transferred or gifted and are not eternal, their duration will be throughout their lives and up to 70 years after their death, and then become public domain.
Exploitation rights
Only you are the one who can decide if you are operating (selling) your photos financially and you can do so yourself or by assigning the user rights to a third party, provided they are paid for.
In this way, you grant certain licenses to your photographs, so that the person who intends to use them, pays or not, knows what you have authorized and what they should not do.
Here’s how most photo sales pages work on the Internet: you put a photograph up for sale and they take care of marketing it by paying you for every copy sold.
License Types
When sharing your photos on the Internet, you should consider the permissions you’re willing to grant to people who may know them. Since paternity is unalterable, the rights at stake here are to use your photos, that is, under what license to use. Them.
? Copyright: this is the most widespread license to use and in which the author reserves each of the rights to his work: only he can use, disseminate or modify it, if a third party is interested in using one of his photographs protected under this license, they must request your explicit permission or pay you to assign the rights of use (never paternity rights). Without your consent, they can’t use your photos, or even name you as an author.
This type of license is frequently used by large prestigious chains, companies and photographers, but its popularity is also due to the that, if an unstop specification photo is shared about the type of license, it is automatically protected by the license. .
If you’re a super-jealous photographer of your job and you’re a little reluctant to share your photos online, this kind of license could give you a little more security in doing so.
? Copyleft: is a license in which the author authorizes the use, copying and distribution of his works with the sole obligation to recognize his authorship.
While it is a license that protects the copyright of your photographs, unlike copyright licenses, they do not require any author permission to use them, suffice it to say who the author is.
These types of licenses have generated various types of licenses for the distribution of digital content on the Internet, including the well-known Creative Commons.
Creative Commons, why not?
If you’re taking your first steps as a photographer, you’re probably more interested in promoting your photos than making money. Believe it or not, the type of license you choose when sharing your photos can influence the dissemination of your work.
Sharing your work under more permissive licenses does not mean that they are not protected, but quite the opposite, it is more advisable and safe to share under Creative Commons licenses than under strict copyright: why?Because controlling that no one on the Internet uses your photos without your permission is almost impossible and taking legal action can be very costly.
On the contrary, offering some rights to your images does not seem like a bad business if it guarantees a greater dissemination of your work. You can consider it as a “win, win” situation: gains in distribution and interested parties can use their photographs, under the conditions you establish and recognizing yourself as the author of them.
Explaining each of them in detail is not the reason for this article, but if you want to know the possibilities that this type of license can offer you I recommend reading the following article: “I become creative commons.
The Photographer’s Blog is a clear example: the photographs illustrating each of the articles published here have been shared under such licenses, more permissive, allowing thousands of readers to appreciate the work of photographers who may never have acquired this affection by choosing a more restrictive license.
Terms and Conditions
The terms and conditions that accompany all pages when you sign up are not just for “Accept and Continue”. I bet you never bothered to read them carefully! If you’re trying to promote your work and spread it, should you start paying attention to ?Terms and Conditions?If you don’t want to take surprises later.
Depending on each of the platforms on which you share your work (Flikr, Facebook, 500px, etc. ), you may or may not assign the rights to use your images. Each site has its own policies regarding the photos that are uploaded to it. .
If you are seriously considering putting your work on the Internet, I recommend that you take your time to read the terms and conditions to understand which licenses you will grant to each of the platforms you choose to do so and which you do not, so that you can decide whether you are willing to assign certain rights to your work.
In each case, make sure you know where the companies that own the social networks or platforms on which you will share your images are located to learn more about the intellectual property laws in force in those countries.
Removal of user rights
This type of contract is the instrument used by photographers like you to assign the rights of use, modification, reproduction and distribution of the photographs they take for the benefit of a third party in the terms agreed in the same contract.
The assignment may be in favor of a person or a company and once the contract is signed, which may be on paper or accepting the terms and conditions of a website, you assign all or part of the rights of use of your photographs according to each case.
When you post on a social network, such as Facebook, even if you don’t know, you waive certain rights to use your images, unlike Flickr where the rules about posting photos on your site are very strict and always with any license. your choice, you must respect the decision of the author of each of the photos hosted there, not in vain is one of the most reliable and used photographic social networks.
That’s why I recommend that you always read the terms and conditions so you can take precautions when publishing your work.
In any case, if you do any work where the recipients of the same acquire the resulting photographs, the most practical thing will be for both parties that the agreement is reflected in a written contract, I recommend that you do not skimp on the details when it is made: in which country the assignment is made, the duration, the price and any other clause that you think is relevant , once signed both parties must comply and what is not clarified or disclosed in writing cannot subsequently be claimed if it is not deducted from the contract.
In any case, the contract will only be valid for what it states: if it is not established, for example, if the photos can be retouched after the transfer or not, it does not mean that the third party can do so. interpreted restrictively, i. e. only the express provisions are permitted.
Here is a template that you can use as the basis for this
Assignment of the image rights of a model:
As I mentioned earlier, having the image rights of these recognizable people that appear in your photos is one of your main obligations as a photographer when it comes to making your photos public.
Because the right to one’s image is a right that aims to protect not only the privacy but also the morals of individuals, anyone can prevent the dissemination of a photograph in which it appears without their consent, such consent must be expressly stated in a document signed by both parties Please note that such authorization may be revoked at the request of the party (person).
Let’s say you do a production in a modeled studio: in order to publish the photos to any public media, you must have the permission of the person in your photos to avoid future claims. This authorization is known as the “rights assignment contract image.
In the case of children, their rights are their parents or guardians, so you must have your written permission to share the photographs where they appear.
Situations that do not require transfer of image rights
Here’s a model contract for the assignment of image rights for you to print and keep some copies if you plan to go out and take pictures with mannequins, passers-by or children who are easily recognizable in them. :
[IMAGE RIGHTS TRANSFER CONTRACT MODEL]
These types of agreements are not only designed to protect the rights of models, people or children who may appear in one of your photographs.
Signing an image rights transfer contract will also protect you as a photographer: not only will they allow you to publish your photos with your image, but also, if they use your photos you took without your permission, you can take legal action. Remember, you were given your image rights.
Not only should you fear that your rights will be violated, but in addition, by sharing your work on the Internet, you acquire not only rights but also obligations that you must fulfill if you do not want to be the one in trouble. share your photos in the various media you offer on the Internet, you need to make sure that:
Be sure to get the appropriate permissions and permissions if you plan to share photos that don’t address any of the issues listed above. Take special care if children, people and role models are included, as the right to privacy that is violated can cause you to have serious problems.
Once you share a photo on the Internet, it’s almost impossible to prevent it from being used without your consent. If it’s impossible for a Hollywood producer to prevent a movie from downloading for free online, imagine how hard it will be for you. to prevent someone from using your photos without permission.
What you can and won’t cost you much effort is put some obstacles in the way so that the person who wants to use your photos without your permission, has a little more difficulty to do so.
Here are some tips you can follow for this purpose
Each right has its corresponding obligation. It is not necessary to demand that your rights be respected if you do not respect the rights of others, remember that your rights end where the rights of others begin and that respect, especially among colleagues, is essential for all of us to work comfortably and calmly.
Sharing a photo on the Internet is as dangerous as leaving a bike without a padlock or a car without your alarm, if someone wants to take advantage of such a situation, they will do so without asking your permission. This does not mean that you have to put 4 anti-theft on your bike, you just have to be careful and know the environment in which you are operating.
Personally, I think the best way to protect yourself is to share. Think of money you don’t earn by not collecting a photo for sharing it for free, such as the money you save on advertising to make yourself known.
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